Duly electing an appointed Board Member

Elie,

Surely your bylaws state what the quorum is for the annual meeting. If a quorum cannot be attained there cannot be a meeting which means there cannot be an election. That may not be explicitly stated in the bylaws but that is how the process works.

The bylaws should also outline the procedure for filling vacancies on the board. It's not uncommon for the BOD to have the authority to make an appointment to fill a vacancy.

I think you should thoroughly read your bylaws so that you will be familiar with the election process and know what the quorum requirements are. From what you have written I cannot see anything that would make me think that the election would not be fair.

If it is impossible to get enough proxies and members to attend a meeting and meet the quorum requirements then perhaps your bylaws need to be amended to allow mail-in ballots. With mail-in ballots a member can cast his own vote but not have to be bothered to attend the meeting.This has worked for my assn and, in fact, is now the law in AZ.

Elie X

We have had the same problem in our HOA for 7 years. Last year after another failed attempt at an election, a few of the homeowners got together to re-write the Bylaws. No matter what anyone else on this forum says, quorum is not required or necessary to hold elections of any kind in an HOA or Condo. You will have some argue that you may get a small group controlling the HOA, when in fact that is happening now. Two people from the current BOD elected a new Board Member, while if you were to be nominated and run as outlined in the Bylaws, you need 204 people to cast a ballot or proxy for even one vote to be opened. You can re-write the Bylaws and have the proper safeguards put in place.

Mail in ballots is not the answer. It may work in an HOA made up primarily of 55+ in age or a HOA that really communicates with their homeowners. We have mail in ballots and our last election we fell 120 short of quorum. If you have a community of mixed ages, you WILL have to go door to door to collect enough votes to pass new Bylaws. Our election date is this coming Thursday, but going door to door we have collected just under 200 votes, we needed 162 yes votes. This will now ensure that we have elections that count from now on. If you don't like the candidate you voted in, the process to remove is easier or can be removed easier at the Annual Meeting.

Wish you the best of luck!!

I don't have a problem with mail-in ballots. Even though it's not mandatory, we use mail-in ballots here. Actually, I think all elections should be done by mail-in ballot from local governments to electing the President. Oregon has done it for years and has been very, very successful.

My point was that mail in ballots are not the answer to obtaining quorum. We have used since 2006 and the Association couldn't achieve quorum. The issue is finding a way to get homeowners to vote. Our BOD and PM don't do a good job in communicating with the residents. To get our Bylaws changed we had to go door to door to get people to vote. I don't mind if it was for amendments, recalling a director or for annual or special assessments, but I will be damned if I am going door to door and helping another candidate that chooses to sit on their butt. Having a quorum ONLY benefits those in power and has the tendency to keep outsiders out. I think we see enough posters that come on and mention that their Association hasn't made quorum in some time.

Mary,

The argument does not fly. Currently, an Association, can and does operate with a small number of potentially unelected Directors who knowing that quorum can't and hasn't been achieved are Directors for as long as they choose and when they decide to step down the Board chooses another friend in secret without ever having to get approval from the Members. This happens day in and day out.

Where you are wrong is that Corporation Code states that ONLY items stated on the agenda may be acted upon if quorum is not 33 1/3 of the Voting Power of the Association. So ONLY items noticed and posted according to law may be voted or acted on.

There is absolutely no harm in electing directors by those willing to be involved in Association business. Apathy is caused by how the governing documents are written and applied. Our CCR's state that to vote on a special assessment over 5% of the annual budget, there must be a quorum of a majority of members and an affirmative vote of 51% of the membership. Makes no sense at all.

If California, who benefits the most from HOA's. want more involvement from homeowners in these communities, they need to pattern elections after other elections conducted in the state.

Mary,

Your second paragraph sums up many HOA's today. Having spent two years working in an election division, I understand the problem, because it doesn't just reside in HOA's. Two and a half years ago when I moved in I saw that the Association had a lack of community and looking into it further I saw a lack of communication and transparency from both the BOD and both Management companies. Quite frankly both parties would be happy if their were no involvement from the homeowners, or the troublemakers as they like to us.

As far as new changes, we have the votes to pass the new Bylaws, so quorum is a thing of the past. No more proxies and no more cumulative voting. The old guard from the Board will be gone and we will have at least 4 new Board Members, if not more. We already have new volunteers to take their places within committees. Things can happen within a dormant Association, but it won't happen overnight. Trust has to be restored and communication restored and followed up on and that comes from the top down. This Association allowed a Management company to completely take over this Association. The new Board will take charge and be leaders within a community. It's a challenge that a few of us are willing to sacrifice the time and energy to make sure it happens.

A Member should not be discouraged from volunteering their time on the Board because not enough show interest in voting. If you can present your qualifications to the Membership and garner more votes than your opponents, then you should have that opportunity. Period. We do that for local elections and I don't see a problem.

Mary,

If what we are doing is wrong, what would you do to in get more community involvement? It sounds like it's suppose to happen without anyone caring or doing anything.